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The Gas Pump thread

BusinessNoob

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I'm not sure exactly how to monetize this but because I feel like it could provide a possible solution to homelessness and extreme poverty, I am going to put it out there to the fine people of this forum. And someone once said that being a giver leads to Ice Cream eventually. And I do enjoy Ice Cream!

So I have been looking for needs, pain points etc. lately and today I realized that I do not particularly enjoy the process of pumping gas. I got to thinking about how one might start a business around this "pain point" and a few different scenarios floated by such as: An app that has a database of all the gas stations where one could "claim" an unoccupied pump and stay there as long as he/she likes. When they leave the pump shows up as available again so the next person can "claim" it.

So how would the "claimer" get paid? I'm thinking most of the revenue would come from tips from the vehicle operator. I mean I wouldn't have a problem with giving someone a buck or two for this service. I realize there needs to be some kind of clocking in/out via the app though so not sure about that just yet.

Why would the gas station allow this? Because if they chose to participate it would in theory bring them extra business (because they offer the service). Sounds like a win-win-win situation to me for all involved. Anybody can pump gas (Homeless), its a helpful service to the vehicle operator, and it increases business for the station.

I realize there are some holes in this plan but I believe there is something here. What do you guys think?
 
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sparechange

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So you are going to have groups of dirty and smelly people lounge around a gas station pumping gas while terrifying people that have children in they're car.

Sounds like a great plan.

In Vancouver there are bums everywhere and personally I've had a couple tweakers threaten my life.

Where can I invest $20 million? Send your bank number with the pin so the transfer can be sent.
 

BusinessNoob

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So you are going to have groups of dirty and smelly people lounge around a gas station pumping gas while terrifying people that have children in they're car.

Sounds like a great plan.

In Vancouver there are bums everywhere and personally I've had a couple tweakers threaten my life.

Where can I invest $20 million? Send your bank number with the pin so the transfer can be sent.

I'm going to put you in the "No" group. Thanks! Maybe college kids would suit Vancouver better?
 

sparechange

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There is a 0% chance this is going to work.. Who would work for a buck
 
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sparechange

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How many cars do you think would come through the gas pump in an hour? I bet they would earn much more than minimum wage.

Few dozen, but this idea is silly..
 

Stargazer

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You go to a petrol station, put your card into the pump, put petrol in the car and drive off.

Takes 5 mins max from driving in to driving out.

Where are you getting stuck?

Zero people need any help with this.

That is why they got rid of pump attendants about 70 years ago. And even then they were only there to make sure you didn't steal the petrol not because anyone was too dim witted to work out where to put a nozzle.

Dan
 
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BusinessNoob

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You go to a petrol station, put your card into the pump, put petrol in the car and drive off.

Takes 5 mins max from driving in to driving out.

Where are you getting stuck?

Zero people need any help with this.

That is why they got rid of pump attendants about 70 years ago. And even then they were only there to make sure you didn't steal the petrol not because anyone was too dim witted to work out where to put a nozzle.

Dan
Women, Elderly, bad weather, lazy people, gas smell, germaphobes,.... Just because you wouldn't use the service doesn't mean others wouldn't.
 

Stargazer

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Can't believe someone has made a video but anyway... (turn speakers off he has put some music to it)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6knDh2u2Wf0


You can see how physically exhausting it is to fill up in the clip.

If you can't lift up a nozzle guess what? You aren't physically capable of driving are you! Irrespective of whether you are male, female or elderly.

The petrol station is not going to allow some guy to hang a round a petrol pump all day offering to do something no one has wanted for decades.

Why don't you just move on to something more useful. You are obviously looking around and trying to connect some dots which is a start I suppose.


Dan
 

BusinessNoob

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Can't believe someone has made a video but anyway... (turn speakers off he has put some music to it)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6knDh2u2Wf0


You can see how physically exhausting it is to fill up in the clip.

If you can't lift up a nozzle guess what? You aren't physically capable of driving are you! Irrespective of whether you are male, female or elderly.

The petrol station is not going to allow some guy to hang a round a petrol pump all day offering to do something no one has wanted for decades.

Why don't you just move on to something more useful. You are obviously looking around and trying to connect some dots which is a start I suppose.


Dan
Lmao. Thanks for the humor mate! I do believe you underestimate the mindset of most Americans these days. Everything is about convenience, ease, have someone else do that menial task for me.... Why do you think McDonalds is so big? The drive thru mostly!
 
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AllenCrawley

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I personally would love the convenience of having someone pump my gas. I used to have my teenagers do it for me but they're all grown up now, lol. However, I would prefer a full-service station vs homeless or anyone not directly employed by the gas station doing it.

Gas stations make money from sales from their store. Not so much from gas. If the driver doesn't have to get out of the car will they be less likely to go into the store to purchase anything? I honestly don't think gas stations would go for this but who knows. Not to mention, how would you get paid if the driver is tipping in cash. That brings up another thing. How many people are still carrying cash?
 

BusinessNoob

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I personally would love the convenience of having someone pump my gas. I used to have my teenagers do it for me but they're all grown up now, lol. However, I would prefer a full-service station vs homeless or anyone not directly employed by the gas station doing it.

Gas stations make money from sales from their store. Not so much from gas. If the driver doesn't have to get out of the car will they be less likely to go into the store to purchase anything? I honestly don't think gas stations would go for this but who knows. Not to mention, how would you get paid if the driver is tipping in cash. That brings up another thing. How many people are still carrying cash?

Very good point about not going in and buying. Yea I haven't work out the monetization angle yet... I suppose it would work better if the driver and "pumper" were paid via the app. Maybe a $2 fee and the "pumper" gets one and I get the other one? So the biggest roadblock seems to be the station owner not getting sales.
 

whiz

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whiz

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Put yourself up as the first employee and try to sell it to a local gas station

I would imagine the sales pitch to be incredibly difficult

Also when the station pays you for your service, how are they gonna make their $ back?

I don't think it's right to put the burden on the drivers outright... you can't charge em $1-2 per fill, it won't happen

You can do the NJ way where they just hike the gas/cigs/chips and drinks up a little to compensate for the cost of the employee.

But back to the point, how would the station profit from this? If you can't explain that, there's no way

Answer this clearly and concisely or abandon your idea immediately:

How are the petrol stations benefitting?

I don't know about this one dawg..
 

minivanman

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I'm not a YES for the app, but I have no idea why a gas station does not bring back attendants. People are more lazy nowadays than any time in history! I have wondered for 10 years why the gas stations don't take advantage of this. Personally, I think college adults (no one in college is under 18 or not most and over 18 is not a kid), would be perfect. No skimpy clothes, nice, neat and clean. No idea why someone hasn't done this yet. Pull up to the pump, slide your card through the card reader while you sit in your car, the attendant fills it up and washes your windshield. The card reader asks if you want to tip or not or you can give them cash. Or, not too far in the future, like an Amazon store, it knows who you are when you drive up so it automatically charges you for your gas.
 
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minivanman

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You know, now that I think about it... Gas is on the way out anyway. I need to think about charging stations.

They better make a car that can go further than Dallas to Waco before you start counting your chickens on the charging station. That's why I sold the Tesla.... pain in the a$$! People are wanting FAST FAST FAST more than ever.... and that is NOT it!
 

BusinessNoob

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I'm not a YES for the app, but I have no idea why a gas station does not bring back attendants. People are more lazy nowadays than any time in history! I have wondered for 10 years why the gas stations don't take advantage of this. Personally, I think college adults (no one in college is under 18 or not most and over 18 is not a kid), would be perfect. No skimpy clothes, nice, neat and clean. No idea why someone hasn't done this yet. Pull up to the pump, slide your card through the card reader while you sit in your car, the attendant fills it up and washes your windshield. The card reader asks if you want to tip or not or you can give them cash. Or, not too far in the future, like an Amazon store, it knows who you are when you drive up so it automatically charges you for your gas.

I really think there is a business model here somewhere. People are becoming more and more "reclusive" if you know what I mean. But as whiz said, where is the profit for the station owner?
 

BusinessNoob

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They better make a car that can go further than Dallas to Waco before you start counting your chickens on the charging station. That's why I sold the Tesla.... pain in the a$$! People are wanting FAST FAST FAST more than ever.... and that is NOT it!

I hear ya. But it won't be too much longer (3-5 years) until battery technology meets the need, IMO.
 
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B_Mac

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If the driver doesn't have to get out of the car will they be less likely to go into the store to purchase anything? I honestly don't think gas stations would go for this but who knows.

I was thinking about this and think it may actually get more sales. I travel often, and if I am in a hurry, I'll stop to get gas but skip going in because I don't have the time. But if I can give someone a buck or two to handle that for me so I can go in, I'd do it for sure.

I don't think you'll get much traction as far as homeless people. Gas stations won't risk scaring customers. I think there is something here though, and I don't think gas is going away anytime soon. Obviously what needs to be worked out here is how a customer who wants an attendant can let it be known they want an attendant over the person who does not. Perhaps an added kiosk beside the pump. You drive up, roll down the window or get out, push a button on this kiosk with your preferred octane, they come out and pump for you, you slide your card like normal, and it adds a $2 fee, with a portion paying the attendant, a portion to the station, and the rest to you.
 

ZCP

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i have our intern fill up the gas tank in the company car while i am writing proposals for new work.
 

Real Deal Denver

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I was thinking about this and think it may actually get more sales. I travel often, and if I am in a hurry, I'll stop to get gas but skip going in because I don't have the time. But if I can give someone a buck or two to handle that for me so I can go in, I'd do it for sure.

I don't think you'll get much traction as far as homeless people. Gas stations won't risk scaring customers. I think there is something here though, and I don't think gas is going away anytime soon. Obviously what needs to be worked out here is how a customer who wants an attendant can let it be known they want an attendant over the person who does not. Perhaps an added kiosk beside the pump. You drive up, roll down the window or get out, push a button on this kiosk with your preferred octane, they come out and pump for you, you slide your card like normal, and it adds a $2 fee, with a portion paying the attendant, a portion to the station, and the rest to you.

It definitely would work in Denver. $3 for no wait service - fill it up - wash the windshield. $4 for a bottle of ice cold water added in AND a sticker on your back bumper saying you are a first class customer at "Gas and Go." Bragging rights - people pay to be known as a big shot. You'd be busy all day.

I actually had a thought almost exactly like this a week ago. I had to go to the post office. 30 damn minute wait in line. What is wrong with those clowns? I thought, hey I could come back and wait in line all day. When I got to the front, I'd sell my place in line for $5. Then start all over again. I'm sure I could make this work. Department of Motor Vehicles? Hell, $20 for a "window" for the hard stuff. I've spent hours there before. Thought I had died and went to hell, but didn't know it yet. They have numbers you take from a ticker tape machine when you walk in. Pretty depressing when your number is 224, and you look at the counter and it says now serving number 37. What do I do for my job? I stand around all day! LOL.

I would have gladly paid the toll!
 
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whiz

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No idea how long petrol is gonna be around but

It would be cool if all gas caps had some type of marker on it, like a QR code or something

And a robot arm could extend and unscrew cap

Then you have the circle where you put the nozzle in - it could be painted neon yellow or something easy for a machine to identify

Then another arm can aim at this yellow circle and put the nozzle in and automatically do it

This is a very Wall-E thought but I don't put anything past capitalism + laziness (or convenience, whatever you wanna call it..)
 

Castillo

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I personally would love the convenience of having someone pump my gas. I used to have my teenagers do it for me but they're all grown up now, lol. However, I would prefer a full-service station vs homeless or anyone not directly employed by the gas station doing it.

Gas stations make money from sales from their store. Not so much from gas. If the driver doesn't have to get out of the car will they be less likely to go into the store to purchase anything? I honestly don't think gas stations would go for this but who knows. Not to mention, how would you get paid if the driver is tipping in cash. That brings up another thing. How many people are still carrying cash?

Hold up.

Is full serve for gas not a thing in the states?

Here in Vancouver, full serve is an option at maybe 1/10 pumps AND costs extra cents per litre.

Back in Saskatoon where I'm from they have full serve everywhere and it's free. They do your windows as well and they're paid employees. They are allowed to accept tips but you are never obligated to give them a tip.

This was a bigger thing in Saskatoon I believe, because in the winter time it got down to -40 - -50 Celcius..

I honestly thought this was everywhere, didn't know you guys didn't have it at all in murica
 

minivanman

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No idea how long petrol is gonna be around but

It would be cool if all gas caps had some type of marker on it, like a QR code or something

And a robot arm could extend and unscrew cap

Then you have the circle where you put the nozzle in - it could be painted neon yellow or something easy for a machine to identify

Then another arm can aim at this yellow circle and put the nozzle in and automatically do it

This is a very Wall-E thought but I don't put anything past capitalism + laziness (or convenience, whatever you wanna call it..)

If they chose to do something like that, they could get rid of the gas cap all together. You could pull up and the pump would extend to your car and fill your tank as a race car does with a fuel can. By the way, the circle is green :) But this is a far cry from hiring a college student to fill up your car. lol
 

SDE

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In my country, petrol stations has salaried employees to pump the petrol. The salary is Rs. 12000 ($170 dollars) per month.

Except these employees no one is allowed to pump petrol.

Employees are available 24/7 on the pump. So the driver doesn't have to step out of the car.



petrol-pump-story_647_042017015417.jpg



I still don't know (never gave much thought,to be honest) how these stations profit as 97% of the stations in the country doesn't have stores attached to it.

This is how ALL the gas stations are run in my country.
 

minivanman

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We have a place here in Texas called Buc-ee's. The one about 20 miles from where I live has 100 gas pumps! Most people have never been to a Buc-ee's because we only have them here in Texas. Inside the gas station is 68,000 square feet of pure joy for a kid (of all ages)! Candy, drinks, beef jerky, fudge, sandwiches, all kinds of stuff and they have a section for crafts of all types. And the bathrooms are 2nd to none. No touch, 33 urinals, I don't even know how many sit down stalls, probably 15+.... this place is incredible! So, a place like this probably couldn't benefit from having attendants but I think most all others could. For those living outside the states, our normal QT style gas stations have probably 20 gas pumps and about 7000 square feet of sales space, including a hot food made fresh station inside the store. There is a good reason a lot of @sses are fat in America!
 
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Royce2

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I'd say this is a long shot of an additional idea but. Lets say you partner with a specific gas company or companies. You create a simple app that allows the end user to activate siri hands-free and before you get to the gas station you can simply say

"Hey siri… reserve me a pump before I get there, and order me a sandwich, a snickers and a 12oz redbull" And siri will be like "Ok I reserved you a pump at ARCO in said location. I also placed a custom order for A sandwich, a snickers bar, and a 12oz redbull do you want to confirm or change?
"confirm"

(in the background siri sends a request ticket to the nearest ARCO for a black corolla license plate 123abcd and a text of what the special request is for them to them fullfill)
You pull up to said gas station and an assistant already has your food and you confirm correct items and pay via apple pay and is now filling up your gas.

then the assistant pulls out a gun on you at 3 am and says get out the car this is GTA and you've been bamboozled.
???
profit.
 

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